Ketchikan Gateway Borough Quitclaim Deed (Interspousal) Form

The Alaska Quitclaim Deed (Interspousal) is a quitclaim deed set up for two people who are married to each other: one spouse signs as grantor, the other takes as grantee, and the deed states the marriage on its face. Built on the statutory form at AS 34.15.040, it conveys with the operative words "conveys and quitclaims," passing whatever interest the grantor spouse holds, with no warranty of title. It also carries a signature line most quitclaim forms lack: a labeled joinder block for the grantee spouse, keyed to Alaska's family home statute.

One Spouse to the Other, Without a Title Warranty

Under AS 34.15.040(b), a deed substantially in the statutory quitclaim form operates as a conveyance, release, and quitclaim of all existing legal and equitable rights of the grantor, in fee, to the grantee and the grantee's heirs and assigns. AS 34.15.080 adds that no covenant is implied in an Alaska conveyance, so the deed promises nothing about the state of the title; the grantee spouse takes exactly the interest the grantor spouse holds, subject to whatever already affects it. Between spouses, that posture matches the transaction: the transfer moves ownership within the household rather than allocating title risk between strangers. After recording, record title to the conveyed interest stands in the grantee spouse's name alone.

The Family Home Joinder Line

AS 34.15.010(b) provides that in a deed or conveyance of the family home or homestead by a married person, the husband and wife join in the deed. The Alaska Supreme Court has read the statute to reach the residence in which the family resides, and a companion subsection, AS 34.15.010(d), leaves a deed that omits a non-title spouse's joinder open to a suit or a recorded notice of interest for a year after recording. On an interspousal deed, the spouse whose joinder matters is also the grantee, and the form resolves the point on its face: a labeled joinder signature block for the grantee spouse follows the grantor's signature, with its own acknowledgment certificate, and Section 9 of the deed states that when the property is not the family home or homestead, the unsigned block does not affect the conveyance. A conveyance of the couple's residence therefore records with both spouses joined; a conveyance of other property records with the block left blank, and the deed itself explains that blank to the examiner who reads it later.

What the Interspousal Configuration Recites

The form recites exactly one conveying spouse and one receiving spouse, each with a complete mailing address, as AS 40.17.030(a)(8) requires for recorded deeds. The conveyance section states that the grantor and the grantee are married to each other, and the grantee entry names a single owner, so the deed vests the conveyed interest in the grantee spouse individually rather than in a co-ownership form. Two acknowledgment certificates appear as a layout choice, letting the grantor and a joining spouse acknowledge on different dates or before different officers. Married couples consolidating record title to Alaska property in one spouse's name, and spouses carrying out a written marital property arrangement with a conveyance between themselves, present the pattern this deed recites. A title on which both spouses already appear as record owners, with both conveying to one of them, presents a two-grantor pattern this form's party structure does not carry; a conveyance by one spouse to both spouses as co-owners names two grantees, another configuration this single-grantee deed is not set up as.

Recording in the Property's District

An Alaska deed identifies on its face the recording district where the property is located; AS 40.17.030(a)(9) makes the district an element of recording eligibility, and the completed deed goes to the Alaska Recorder's Office for recording in that district. The fee schedule is statewide under 11 AAC 05.200, currently 20 dollars for the first page and 5 dollars for each additional page, and Alaska imposes no transfer tax on an ordinary deed, so the deed and the fee are the whole package at the counter.

The Alaska Quitclaim Deed (Interspousal) download includes the fillable deed form, a completed example showing an Anchorage Recording District transfer between spouses, and a guide that walks through each section of the form, the joinder rule, and the recording steps. The materials describe Alaska law in general terms and are not legal advice.